A Year in Review 2023

T e n 

This is my tenth year reflecting back on the last 365 days with my "Year in Review" post. It feels special, a decade of memories condensed to ten posts on my little corner of the internet.

It's my favorite post to write every year and you can read my recaps for the last nine years (2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014). I went back through my last decade, reviewed month by month and adventure by adventure. In those ten years fell in love, I ran two marathons, moved west to Utah, finished graduate school, moved back east, started over, traveled to amazing places all over the world (Madeira, Iceland, Paris, Copenhagen), skied the west, road tripped across the country, camped in the dessert, hiked New England's highest peaks, went on scuba diving trips and my first overnight backpacking trips, bought my first house alone, met my now husband, got engaged and married, bought our first home together which we completely renovated, had two kids, and started my own business. It's truly been a decade of so many milestones and the rest is history or so they say. It is truly wild to look back at the big and little moments of the last ten years and I can say with certainty life is wildly beautiful, kind of crazy and can be savagely hard. I'm insanely nostalgic for all of these memories and can't help but wonder all the different directions my life could have taken over this transformative decade of my mid 20s and to my mid 30s. I do know for certain that I'm glad it all brought me here.

Winter at the Cog — The Mount Washington Cog Railway

Our neighbors recently returned from a trip to New Hampshire where they headed up the Cog Railway to roast marshmallows in a winter wonderland. We heard this and immediately thought of our train o b s e s s e d toddler (obsessed may not even be the right word). We quickly grabbed tickets and planned a festive weekend away up north to Mount Washington and Santa's Village.

Santa's Village - New Hampshire

I am not an amusement park kind-of-gal but here me out when I say Santa's Village is a magical place. There is no shortage of things to do around the holiday season but a trip to Santa's Village is just about the best way to kick off the season. You travel to northern New Hampshire and I mean north, like not too far from the Canadian border north to the quiet little town of Jefferson.  The weather is chilly and you walk into a Christmas themed park with everyone bundled up, carrying a hot chocolate and sporting a smile as kids head to their favorite ride or the barn to see Santa's reindeer. 

The instant you walk in, it's just Christmas cheer, the friendliest park staff, the cutest classic rides reimagined, and some serious attention to detail. The carousel? It's all reindeer. Monorail? A sled takes you around and above the park. It's lit up at night and there are letters where you can write to Santa, a station to drop off your letters, a place to meet him, and even a barn where you can feed the reindeer (my favorite). There's an elf scavenger hunt, places to shop and eat, treats galore, and it's truly the perfect size to spend the day or a half day. 

Machimoodus State Park - Moodus, CT

I am pretty blown away by the amount of beautiful places and spaces in our small state and Machimoodus was of certainly one of them. It's in Moodus, a relatively quiet village in the town of East Haddam. Don't expect to find a busy downtown or a high traffic park. Instead, you can find quiet back roads with a colorful coffee shop, and a park with a relatively empty parking lot. I heard of this park as a great place for trail riding with the intention of hiking it on foot to scope it out for future four legged use. Adam was home and tagged along for a full family adventure to another state park - two dogs, two kids, and the two of us. 

Windsor Meadows State Park - Windsor

 

Windsor Meadows State Park is a small stretch of park bordering the Connecticut River in the town of Windsor. The entire park consists of 155 acres of woodlands along the river, bounded to the west by railroad tracks. The south section of the park contains the large parking lot, start of the Windsor River Trail (paved trail great for a variety of trail users), the Bissell Bridge Walkway Trail, and the Bissell Bridge Boat Launch. The Walkway connects Windsor to the large system of multi-use trails in Manchester and East Hartford. While the area is most popular among boaters using the launch, there are several picnic tables, and a small handicapped accessible pavilion.